The following was written many years ago…………….
I know that Monsters really exist. Some people don’t think so but they have not experienced them. Not seeing sometimes means not believing. But the Monsters I know of ARE REAL. I’m not talking about Big Foot or Frankenstien, those are little bitty monsters compared to the real ones. I’m talking about Monsters hundreds of feet tall that have the strength and power to destroy property and lives. I’m talking about Monsters who come into some of our towns and cities each year and cause widespread pain, anguish, and devastation. When the Monster comes calling it is always angry.
We have known about the existence of Monsters for many years now. Our Government has created a large staff of employees dedicated to studying exactly how Monsters are born and develop through their lifetime. The elusive goal has been to hopefully find a way to predict when a Monster will come, or at least find ways to provide better warnings that one is coming. No Monster has ever been stopped, diverted, or destroyed because there is no known way to do this.
Monsters have been observed on every continent except Antarctica, but most Monster sightings occur in the United States. But they also are commonly seen in Southern Canada, South-central and Eastern Asia, East-central South America, Southern Africa, Northwestern and Southeast Europe, Western and Southeastern Australia, and New Zealand.
The United States averages about 1,200 confirmed Monster sitings per year. The Netherlands has the highest average number of sightings per area of any country (more than 20, or 0.0013 per sq mi (0.00048 per km²), annually), followed by the UK (around 33, or 0.00035 per sq mi (0.00013 per km²), per year) but most of these are smaller Monsters that usually only cause minor damage. In absolute number of events, ignoring area, the UK has more Monsters than any other European country.
Monsters kill about 179 people per year in Bangladesh, by far the most in the world. This is partly due to high population density and lack of knowledge about Monsters. Monsters are most common in spring and least common in winter. Monster occurrence is highly dependent on the time of day. Worldwide most Monsters appear in the late afternoon, between 3 pm and 7 pm local time with a peak near 5 pm. However, Monsters can appear at any time of day or night. Night is often a more dangerous time because it is harder to see the Monsters and many people are asleep.
I have personally seen three Monsters so far in my lifetime. The first time was in June, 1966 one night in Topeka, Kansas where I grew up. We were visiting relatives that night and the message came across radio and television that the Monster had arrived. There are very few areas to hide from the Monster safely, but usually underground is best. At my great uncle’s house they have an undereground cellar and all of us hurried into it.
The sound that Monsters make when they arrive is a deafening roar, some say it sounds like a frieght train. When the Monster arrived that night, I heard it approaching. My father stood between me and the doors of the cellar. When the Monster was near, I remember him opening up one of the doors just enough to see part of the Monster towering above. It was black and hundreds of feet high, crushing everything in its path as it roared by.
When the deafening roar subsided we emerged from the cellar. My great uncle’s house was still standing, but nearby fences, trees and other objects were knocked down and destroyed. There was debris everywhere you looked from the devistation. There were over 20,000 people in the Monster’s path that night in Topeka but only 17 people died. This low death total was because there were observers positioned around the city that saw the Monster coming and warned everyone 15 minutes in advance. Those minutes of early warning were critical to saving countless lives that night.
The Monsters I speak of are very real and they come from the sky. You probably have heard them called tornadoes. I am part of a group of community volunteers involved with helping warn the public. We have amateur radio licenses and use our skills and equipment to quickly communicate with the National Weather Service and authorities when threatening conditions exist. Did you know that there were such volunteers serving in your area? Many people do not know, but these volunteers are there and many lives have been and will be saved. The best thing that we all can do is to be prepared. Will you be ready when the Monster comes calling?
Robert W5IUA